Mission creep – a new hive

The swarm is fine – it turned out I’d not managed to get the queen in when I’d tried to shake them into the box. Sorry about that bees, you had to have a cold night on the floor. Ah well, they went in eventually when I spotted her plonked her unceremoniously inside – no red carpets for royalty here.

A very old WBC hive

The nuc box is way too small long term so I’ve dusted off an ancient hive I’ve been given – my plan was to spend the summer doing it up but suddenly it’s needed so despite the weathered paint and the mossy roof, it’s been given a quick scorching inside to sterilise it and the bees have moved in.

It looks like it should belong to some grumpy old humorously short creature from a cheap fantasy novel.

Now I did promise my wife we’d only have two hives in the garden, and there’s been a bit of mission creep here. I can’t immediately put those naughty bees back where they belong as they’d just leave again. I have to wait until the new queen hatches out, matures and pops off on a quick flight to get herself laid by as many drones as possible – fatal for the drones by the way so I’ve about three weeks.

I’ll know next week if I’m allowed to stick a hive down the allotment – if so I’ll move the ‘new’ hive down there. If not I and I can’t find someone who needs a queen, I’ll have to dispose of one if them and reunite the bees with the old hive. Sorry about that bees but if I don’t we end up with uncontrollable swarms getting on the news or up peoples chimneys where they don’t want them